Hidan (飛段, Hidan) was an S-rankmissing-nin who defected from Yugakure and joined the Akatsuki. There, he was partnered with Kakuzu, despite the two's somewhat mutual dislike of each other. He was also the second newest member of Akatsuki at the time of his introduction.[2]Kisame Hoshigaki laughingly referred to Hidan and Kakuzu as the "Zombie Combo" (ゾンビコンビ, Zonbi Konbi).[3]

Contents

Background

After Yugakure deteriorated from a shinobi village to a tourist site, Hidan became infuriated with how things were turning out. He believed that the shinobi that resided there were meant to kill, and thus slaughtered his neighbours before leaving Yugakure, and joining the cult-like faith known as Jashin, a religion that worshipped a deity of the same name.[1] The primary teaching of this faith appears to be outright slaughter, where anything less than utter destruction is considered a sin.[4] Through experiments with Jashin's secret technique, Hidan was granted immortality. Eventually, he joined Akatsuki after seeing Kakuzu, a man who he saw as a pioneer in immortality,[5] and he was later partnered with him.

Personality

Hidan and Kakuzu in the midst of an argument.

Hidan was one of the most foul-mouthed, disrespectful characters in the series; he frequently swore and complained at allies and opponents alike, contrary to being a "religious" person. He rarely used honourifics when speaking, and, even then, usually as a form of sarcasm, for example when he called Deidara "Deidara-chan".[6] He was the only member of Akatsuki who did not respect their leader, Pain, and openly declared his willingness to kill him around others. The only respect he ever seemed to give was to his god, and, even then, he was quite willing to use his name as an insult. He openly held his partner, Kakuzu, in contempt for his habit of blasphemy, love of money, and Kakuzu's frequent ridicule of Hidan's religion and battle style. Despite this, whenever Hidan was in the mood to kill, the two worked together flawlessly in battle, and one can infer that he did care somewhat for his partner, from his panicked reaction when he almost killed Kakuzu while being possessed by Shikamaru's technique.

Hidan had absolutely no moral restraints regarding the people he killed; he considered slaughter a religious calling, and often took considerable pleasure in making his opponents' deaths as painful as possible. The amulet around his neck was a symbol of Jashin, and he used it to pray to his god before battling, requesting a good kill, or (when he was not allowed to) for forgiveness.[7] Given the requirements of his voodoo-like curse ritual, he was quite willing to inflict pain and injuries on himself, and showing a masochist side as he openly relished the shared pain between him and the cursed victim. Despite this, he reacted "normally" (that is, he didn't enjoy the pain) to being injured by someone else, or when the opponent didn't share the pain.

Hidan's behaviour in the anime bordered on insanity; he was frequently heard shrieking loudly while attacking, and laughed maniacally when he was about to kill Asuma Sarutobi. Hidan also appeared to be quite spiteful towards his enemies (and nearly everyone else), even commenting to Shikamaru Nara that "I've been waiting for this" ("this" referring to using his ceremony to kill Shikamaru).

However, his immortality had made him arrogant, and he frequently engaged opponents with no regard for strategy, save to acquire some of their blood. Although ridiculed for his foolishness by Kakuzu and Shikamaru alike, being obviously inferior in tactical genius to either of them, and even admitting that he was not very intelligent himself, he was able to analyse the nature and limits of Shikamaru's Shadow Imitation Technique, and conducted battle accordingly (though he retained his arrogant attitude even under these circumstances). Interestingly, he seemed to panic when Shikamaru took control of his body, shouting at Kakuzu to do something in a rather frantic voice. He didn't particularly like it when Kakuzu assisted in his battles, and only called for his help when he decided he needed it. Kakuzu tended to return the favour by coming in "late" and letting Hidan be wounded (though still alive) as punishment for underestimating his opponents. After his head was reattached, he showed a great hatred towards Asuma. In the anime, after being recreated, Hidan stated that being controlled by Kabuto Yakushi was the worst.[8]

Appearance

Hidan.

Hidan had medium-length silver hair that was slicked back and distinctive purple eyes. He wore his Akatsuki cloak open with no shirt, only pants under it revealing his Yugakure forehead protector around his neck and Jashin amulet. He also wore dark green nail polish and his orange Akatsuki ring on his left index finger, which bears the kanji for Three (三, san). When not fighting, he was always seen with his Triple-Bladed Scythe on his back. After his fight with Asuma, Hidan lost part of his left ear and Kakuzu stitched his neck after he was briefly decapitated.

In the Chikara Arc, upon being recreated, Hidan initially lacked clothing, but later wore a black cloak with red lining, similar to the one being worn by Kabuto and the reincarnated Akatsuki members at the time. Due to the talismans implanted in him by Kabuto, Hidan's eyes at times possessed black sclera with white, pupil-less irides and dark grey sclera with darkened versions of his original self's purple irides.

Immortality

Hidan enduring a fatal wound.

Hidan's main advantage was his inability to die from virtually all causes, with the exception of malnutrition.[9] This is a result of extensive experimenting with the Jashin religion's various techniques. His immortality allowed him to survive numerous fatal injuries,[10] and almost any form of dismemberment; he even retained his ability to speak after having his head cut off.[11] However, his head still needed to be connected to his body in order to control it,[12] so Kakuzu reattached it, and other body parts, when needed.[13] Despite Shikamaru's attempt to blow him into smithereens using hundreds of explosive tags adhered to his entire body, the former only succeeded in decapitating him (after weakening the tendons that Kakuzu used to re-attach his head) with the full impact of the explosion. Even though he was impervious to most physical attacks, as well as able to survive the injuries that actually got through to him, he was still susceptible to pain, which he came to find pleasure in at the expense of his opponents.

This inability to die was the primary reason for his partnership with Kakuzu. Since Kakuzu couldn't kill him, Kakuzu didn't need to find new partners after his fits of rage.[14] Although the two disliked working together, this advantage made them the ideal team. His immortality was exploited in mutual advantage by Kakuzu, where the pair would perform a combo involving one of Kakuzu's hearts using Wind Release: Pressure Damage in unison with Hidan striking at an opponent. Such an attack would maim the victim but leave Hidan unimpaired.

Physical Prowess

In battle, Hidan was shown to be very skilled in taijutsu. He wielded a Triple-Bladed Scythe that he used as a short and long-range weapon. Despite its large and dangerous shape, Shikamaru speculated it was intended to draw blood, instead of inflicting fatal damage. He controlled it with a long metal cable, that was connected to a coil hidden under his robe. He was exceptionally skilled at wielding it, capable of deflecting a swarm of shuriken thrown at close-range. He has also demonstrated tremendous aim and control of where and how it will strike, making it highly difficult for his opponents to predict the weapon's path. The unusual curvilinear trajectory that it took made it even more unpredictable, and Hidan was shown to be capable of causing the scythe to swerve perpendicularly and unexpectedly at a target even though the scythe was quite far from him. However, during his final battle against Kakashi and Team Asuma, the cable was destroyed by an explosive tag attached to a kunai thrown by Shikamaru. Hidan stated that the large size inhibited his attack speed, claiming he was the slowest attacker in Akatsuki.[15]

Nevertheless, Hidan was extremely agile, having tremendous acrobatic prowess and dexterity in avoiding attacks. He could evade a massive fire ball fired at him at point-blank range, which reduced the building he was standing in to rubble, and was shown to be capable of dodging Asuma's Chakra Blade aimed at him in mid-air, by thrusting his scythe into the trunk of a tree and using it as a stand, halting his fall and making the blade miss by a margin.

Jashin Ritual and Curse

Using his weapon, Hidan makes every attempt to acquire an opponent's blood, where upon consuming it he draws the Jashin symbol on the ground. This process somehow "links" his body with his opponent's.[16] Once this link is established, Hidan takes on a Grim Reaper-like appearance, with black skin and white bone-like markings.[17] In this state, he is essentially a living voodoo doll for his opponent; any damage that is done to him is also inflicted on the opponent.[18] Hidan referred to this as his "curse", and he was fond of toying with his victims by inflicting non-fatal injuries with his retractable spears, while taking obvious pleasure in their shared pain.[19] Once he was done playing with the opponent, or if he wanted to kill them quickly, he impaled himself through the heart killing his opponent in the process, [20] and then relishing in intense satisfaction.

Despite its effectiveness, the curse has many requirements, and can be a slow technique to employ. The curse can be avoided if the opponent happens to know what to look out for, and knows of Hidan's inability to die. The link between Hidan's curse and his opponent could be broken prematurely if Hidan was removed from the symbol;[21] However, Hidan would remain in his transformed state, allowing the curse to be easily re-established by him simply entering the symbol's borders once more.[22]

Stats

Part II

Kazekage Rescue Arc

Like all Akatsuki members, Hidan is shown to be present (in hologram form) at the sealing of the One-Tailed Shukaku. When Zetsu reveals their enemy's presence, Hidan offers to take on Might Guy because of an apparent failure to capture a jinchūriki. What jinchūriki and how this mission ended in failure remains unknown.

Hidan and Kakuzu Arc

Hidan and Kakuzu made their first actual appearance after cornering Yugito Nii, the jinchūriki of the Two-Tails, in the sewers of Kumogakure. Initially, Hidan offered Yugito the option of surrender, claiming his faith did not allow him to fight an opponent only to leave them half-dead (for the capture of her tailed beast).[23] Yugito refused his offer, and transformed herself into the Two-Tails, but the Akatsuki duo still managed to defeat her, and gave her to Zetsu, before they continued to the Land of Fire.

Hidan and Kakuzu attack Chiriku.

Upon arrival in the Land of Fire, Hidan begrudgingly joined Kakuzu in attacking a temple, so that they could collect the bounty on the head monk, Chiriku.[24] The monk and his numerous subordinates were slaughtered, and Hidan repeated his lengthy ritual. Afterwards, Hidan reluctantly travelled with Kakuzu to take the monk's body to the nearest bounty station.

Reaching the bounty station, Hidan opted to stay outside, not liking the fact that the station was hidden inside a lavatory that smelled particularly foul. While he waited for Kakuzu to collect the money, Hidan was ambushed by Asuma Sarutobi, Shikamaru Nara, Kotetsu Hagane, and Izumo Kamizuki. Despite being immobilised, and stabbed in the chest by two large kunai,[25] Hidan asked who the shinobi were while acting as though he did not even register the fatal blows, much to the Konoha group's surprise.

Kakuzu soon arrived, forcing Hidan's assailants to fall back. Instructing Kakuzu to leave the battle to him, Hidan exchanged blows with Asuma, eventually succeeding in obtaining some blood and initiating his curse, right before Asuma used Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning on him, causing Asuma to suffer from third degree burns. Not realising what Hidan had done, Asuma charged, and fell over in pain when Hidan stabbed himself in the leg. As Hidan prepared to kill Asuma, Shikamaru, realising what was going on, again immobilised Hidan, but had difficulty maintaining his hold. While Hidan was momentarily restrained, Shikamaru analysed everything Hidan had said and done up to that point, eventually figuring out the weakness of Hidan's technique.[26] With that epiphany, Shikamaru managed to force Hidan from the safety of his symbol, temporarily releasing Asuma from Hidan's curse.

After cutting Hidan's ear, to ensure he was then freed from the curse, Asuma decapitated Hidan. To the Konoha ninja's horror, the severed head loudly cursed and swore at Asuma for doing so, and then at Kakuzu for not stopping them. Kakuzu casually shrugged this off, as he felt it was Hidan's fault for telling him to not interfere.[27][28] While Asuma and the others stood shocked by Hidan's survival, Kakuzu reattached Hidan's head to his body, again surprising the Konoha ninja. As Kakuzu dealt with Kotetsu and Izumo, Hidan re-entered his symbol, and linked himself once more to Asuma. Hidan swung his scythe at Asuma, only for Asuma to duck and the scythe to bury itself into Hidan's own vital organs. Asuma doubled over with pain, and as Shikamaru rushed to Asuma's aid, Hidan used the opportunity to stab himself through the heart with his spear, which fatally injured Asuma. Asuma coughed up blood, and collapsed, as Hidan smiled enjoyably, with Izumo, Kotetsu and Shikamaru watching in sorrow and horror. Shikamaru loudly swore at Hidan, and charged at him, but collapsed from exhaustion.

Reinforcements from Konoha arrived as Shikamaru collapsed. Although Hidan expressed interest in getting to kill them as well, the Akatsuki leader called him and Kakuzu away. Angry, and promising to kill the Konoha ninja later, Hidan left with Kakuzu to a secluded area, where they spent three days sealing the Two-Tails (and, in the manga, another three days sealing the Three-Tails).

Once the sealing was over, Hidan and Kakuzu headed for Konoha, eager to continue their battle. Along the way, the two were once again ambushed by Shikamaru, the latter having waited for them, this time accompanied by the other remaining members of Team 10. Although Kakuzu managed to escape from Shikamaru's shadow, Hidan was left under Shikamaru's control, and was forced to fight his partner.

When Kakuzu was apparently killed by Kakashi Hatake, Kakashi prepared to finish Hidan as well, but was quickly repelled by a surprisingly alive Kakuzu. Freed from Shikamaru's shadow, due to its inherent time limit, Hidan charged at Kakashi, while Kakuzu fired blasts of elemental attacks at the duo's opponents. Recognising that the two-man Akatsuki team was too powerful as a pair, and needed to be separated, Shikamaru volunteered to draw the immortal away.[29] Hidan, having been trapped by Shikamaru's technique so many times, was determined not to fall prey to it again, and made sure to avoid the shadows. In doing so, Hidan mocked Shikamaru for fighting in a sneaky and distant manner. While focusing on the shadow attacks, Hidan didn't notice Shikamaru suddenly appearing close enough to stun him with a punch to the face. Hidan blocked this with his hand, connecting their shadows and as a result, he was trapped by Shikamaru's shadow, and was led away by him.[30]

Hidan was led towards an area that was surrounded with wire and explosive tags, which Shikamaru had prepared in advance. However, Hidan had no desire to escape, and he attacked Shikamaru when the shadow technique wore off. It appeared as though he had acquired some of Shikamaru's blood. Quickly drawing his symbol and transforming, Hidan seemingly killed Shikamaru. Once Hidan departed, the "fallen" Shikamaru jumped up, still alive, and tried to decapitate Hidan from behind, although failing to make a cut deep enough. Surprised that Shikamaru was alive, Hidan learned he had been tricked into consuming Kakuzu's blood, so he, in effect, destroyed one of Kakuzu's hearts.[31]

As Hidan attempted to kill Shikamaru in retaliation, Hidan was again stopped by Shikamaru's shadow. With Hidan restrained, Shikamaru covered Hidan with the surrounding explosive tags, tying Hidan to the spot. With Hidan unable to move, Shikamaru activated a prepared mark to cause the ground beneath Hidan to break away. He then informed Hidan that the forest that they were in belonged to his clan, and that they would ensure that Hidan remained bound to it for eternity. Finally, having a chance to avenge Asuma's death, Shikamaru lit a cigarette (in the anime, it was changed to Asuma's lighter) and tossed it at Hidan, causing the explosive tags to detonate.[32] Hidan was literally blown to bits. As Hidan's remains fell into the pit below, his detached head promised to kill Shikamaru in any way possible. Shikamaru caused the pit to collapse, trapping the screaming Hidan beneath the rubble.[33]

Though believed dead by Akatsuki,[34] Hidan is in fact alive but is dying slowly from a lack of nutrition.[9]

Chikara Arc

In the anime, a short while after the Five Kage Summit,[35] Kabuto scrounged some of Hidan's DNA from the Nara Clan Forest. Not long after the massacre of the Tonika villagers, Kabuto confronted Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno, who were investigating the incident. Kabuto then used the The Hole's water and his snakes to recreate Hidan, who he then took control of with a talisman. The newly-formed Hidan was then sent into battle against Team Kakashi on Kabuto's orders, after using a scroll to summon the original Hidan's scythe, which had also been salvaged.[36] After a short fight, Kabuto retreated, having a snake ingest Hidan to transport him away. Later clothed in the attire of Kabuto and his reincarnated shinobi, Hidan's body remained dormant while Kabuto made adjustments to the technique.[37]

Hidan's clone and Deidara act as a diversion.

The next day, with his original self's personality restored, Hidan, along with a reincarnatedDeidara, killed the Hachō Village guards who were guarding The Hole as a diversion for Kabuto to sneak into the village, a fact that greatly annoyed Hidan. The two began bickering about their respective defeats, which nearly escalated into a fight between them, when Yamato and Sai arrived with more Hachō guards.[8] After a Tailed Beast Ball fired by a clone of Naruto detonated near the two, they were recalled by Kabuto, with Hidan being consumed by a snake once again, despite attempting to resist.[38]

Creation and Conception

Concept designs for Hidan, by Masashi Kishimoto.

In Naruto Hiden: Sha no Sho Character Official Data Book, Kishimoto revealed that Hidan's design, with the skeletal patterns and scythe, were meant to resemble a shinigami (死神, "death god," "grim reaper"), because "Hidan uses curses and things". He also noted that he originally planned for the scythe to have a number of special tricks, but "didn't have time to show them all".

Trivia

The first kanji in Hidan's name (飛) stands for hisha, the rook in shōgi. Similarly the first kanji in his partner's name means "bishop".

Hidan's Jashin amulet appears with the point of the triangle pointing upwards in the manga, and pointing down in the anime, but on episode 75, minute 19:05, it appears pointing upwards.

Before his début in the manga, a character with no clear similarities to Hidan appears during Akatsuki meetings. It is unknown if this is one of Kakuzu's previous partners or simply an early design for Hidan.

Both Hidan's and Kakuzu's faces were on a pair of lanterns in the omake of Naruto: Shippūdenepisode 129, Hidan being to the left and Kakuzu being to the right.

Quotes

(To Kakuzu after being told not to die) "Every damn time… That's not something you say to me… If they can kill me, I couldn't be happier. Although… I don't think they can!"[42]

(To the Konoha shinobi) "Hell that hurts… You go and stab me all over… Damn both of you… Divine judgement awaits heathens ignorant to the pain of others."[43]

(After wounding Asuma) "Yeah hurts good doesn't it? Attacking the vitals is such a waste! This pain, this is the best! As the other dies, their agony radiates through my body! And living through it feels even better!"[44]

(To Shikamaru before being buried alive) "I'll never die… Even if you destroy my body, and I'm left with nothing but my head… I'll escape somehow… and when I do, I'll find you and bite your throat out!"[45]